Fashion Studies and Islamic Studies Scholar

Research

Fashioning Black Islam:Race, Gender, and Belonging in the Ummah

My book manuscript explores Black Muslim women’s dress practices. Specifically, I am interested in examining the ways in which Black Muslim women use fashion to challenge hegemonic Islamic femininity, to create alternative modes of knowledge production and transmission, and to create networks of belonging centered on a shared Black Muslim identity. Currently, I am conducting fieldwork in Boston, MA.

In collaboration with Mizan, I will be creating an interactive map and walking tour that traces Malcolm X’s life in Boston. In his autobiography, Malcolm X states, “All praise is due to Allah that I went to Boston when I did. If I hadn’t, I probably still be a brainwashed black Christian” (40). Boston is where he was introduced to both hustlin’ and the Nation of Islam, laying the groundwork for his later years as one of the most influential Black freedom fighters in the 20th century.